Study skills key for Herbert

Second-year QB may thrive in new offense

Nate Gilliam and Gabe Nabers had an awkward situation when Justin Herbert asked what they planned to do for housing during their rookie season with the Chargers.

Gilliam and Nabers already had plans to live together. They didn’t expect the prized first-round rookie quarterback to be interested in being anyone’s roommate.

“I think we found a place,” Gilliam recalled telling Herbert when he revealed his plans with Nabers.

Herbert’s response, according to Gilliam: “Oh, so you don’t want to live with me?”

Gilliam and Nabers didn’t mind making room for one more because they had become close with Herbert during training camp. They played video games, board games and ate together while staying at the team hotel.

“We didn’t know that was an option,” Gilliam, an offensive lineman on the Chargers’ practice squad, said about living with Herbert. “We just didn’t know that was actually going to come together. I think we went to dinner and we talked it over then.”

The three rookies moved into a place near the team’s facility in Costa Mesa and added to their teammate bonding activities by hosting a feast on the days following wins last season. The roommates cooked a “victory brisket” for the main course.

“He won’t take credit for it, but he’s like the head of the operation when it comes to cooking the meat,” Nabers, a fullback, said of Herbert. “I’m like the sous chef and sides guy. I’m the ultimate sides guy.”

The college-like atmosphere helped Herbert stay

TODAY’S SEASON OPENER 10 a.m.: Chargers at Washington Football Team, Ch. 2

CHARGERS AT WASHINGTON: WHO HAS THE EDGE?

When: Today, 10 a.m.

Where: FedEx Field

TV/Radio: Ch. 2; 98.7 FM; 105.5 FM 94.3 FM (Spanish); Sirius 108

Line: Washington by 1 point

Notable injury designations: Chargers: RB Austin

Ekeler (questionable; hamstring), DB Trey Marshall (out; ankle)

Washington: WR Curtis Samuel (out; groin)

What’s at stake?: A chance for the Chargers to begin on a winning note with a tough schedule in the first six games. Washington is the first of four games in six weeks against playoff teams from last season. The Chargers face the Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Ravens before their Week 7 bye. But leaving Washington with a victory won’t be easy against an emerging defense and an offense that can get hot in a hurry.

Who’s better?: The Chargers have a balanced team with playmakers on both sides of the ball and have the quarterback edge with Justin Herbert. Washington quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick is capable of getting hot in any game, but his aggressive downfield approach has cost him many turnovers in his 17-year career. If Fitzpatrick is forcing the ball, that could create takeaway opportunities for safety Derwin James, who is expected to play in his first game since 2019. Washington has the advantage on the defensive line but has question marks in the secondary.

Matchup to watch: All eyes will be on Chargers rookie left tackle Rashawn Slater versus Washington star edge rusher Chase Young. They had memorable battles in college when Slater was at Northwestern and Young at Ohio State. Slater got the best of Young in college, but Young is an established NFL edge rusher. Slater, the team’s No. 13overall pick, will be making his NFL debut today. Young will likely be itching to show Slater what he’s learned since college.

Chargers win if: Bryan Bulaga plays the entire game and is a reliable starting right tackle. The Chargers’ veteran offensive tackle missed practices in training camp because of a hip and groin injury, but he practiced fully the entire week. Bulaga, however, can’t do what he did last year when he left games early because of injuries. Slater will have his hands full with Young and Montez Sweat and will need help on the other end of the offensive line. The Chargers will also need their new interior offensive linemen – Corey Linsley, Matt Feiler and Oday Aboushi – to step up against defensive tackles Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne.

Fantasy sleeper: Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams could have a productive Week 1against a suspect Washington secondary. Keenan Allen will likely be doubled often in coverage, which could create opportunities for Williams. The Washington cornerbacks are Kendall Fuller and William Jackson III. Williams was dealing with a hip injury in training camp, but he’s not on the injury report and has practiced the past two weeks.

Prediction: This will be a good test for Brandon Staley’s head coaching debut and as the Chargers’ defensive play-caller. But Staley has edge rusher Joey Bosa and a healthy James on his side to contain Washington’s playmakers. Expect the Chargers’ offensive line to have trouble in a low-scoring game, but Herbert will lift them with a game-winning drive. The Chargers win the season opener, 20-17, in the nation’s capital. centered while dealing with the rigorous demands of being a starting quarterback in the NFL. But Gilliam and Nabers quickly learned that any roommate activities needed to be planned for early in the week.

The closer it got to game days, the more time Herbert spent in his downstairs office analyzing film and preparing for that week’s opponent.

“We’d get home, and he’d be in his own zone,” Nabers said. “Me and Nate would have our own things that we do, and I’d be in my room watching film. … But Justin would always be downstairs in his office watching film.”

Occasionally, Gilliam knocked on Herbert’s door and asked if he could pick his brain on what he’s seeing on film.

“With that guy, you have to give him space,” Gilliam said. “Let him focus. Let him do his own thing. You can chime in. He’s not going to be standoffish. … But with those kinds of people, I feel like they just see it quicker than others in the sense that they see the big picture.

“For him, he sees the coverages. He sees certain things a different way. … He just picked it up a little bit quicker than the normal person.”

That meticulous preparation is why Herbert had instant success when he was thrust into the starter’s role in Week 2 last season without getting any first-team snaps in training camp. His ability to quickly process how defenses are attacking him helped him sustain that success and deliver a record-setting rookie season.

But Herbert, 23, is starting from scratch for his second season with a new coaching staff and another scheme to learn.

He won’t catch the Washington Football Team by surprise in the season opener today at FedExField. All of the Chargers’ 2021 opponents have a year’s worth of film on the strong-armed quarterback.

Risk for rewards

Herbert broke several NFL rookie records and earned Offensive Rookie of the Year honors under the guidance of former head coach Anthony Lynn and his staff.

The Chargers fired Lynn after Herbert’s memorable rookie year because the team had back-to-back losing seasons and the front office didn’t view Lynn and his staff as innovative enough.

By hiring a new coaching staff, the Chargers risked disrupting Herbert’s comfort zone.

But that was likely never a significant concern for Chargers ownership and GM Tom Telesco after they witnessed what Herbert was able to do without an offseason program during the pandemic and without any starter’s reps before being notified just before kickoff that he would make his debut against the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs in Week 2.

A revolving door at offensive coordinator has derailed the careers of many promising quarterbacks, but learning a new system hasn’t been an issue for Herbert.

“That’s a skill,” Nabers said, “being able to drop some information and just fully let the new information flood your brain. That’s a skill. I think that’s something (Herbert’s) been pretty good at.”

Herbert is in the process of learning his fifth offensive system in the past six seasons. He had three head coaches in four seasons at the University of Oregon and is now with his second NFL head coach.

Herbert, a three-time Academic All-American at Oregon, credited his study habits for being able to transition to different offensive systems.

“I think it goes back to school and having good study habits,” said Herbert, a biology major who had a 4.01 cumulative grade-point average in college. “Being able to try and pick things up quickly, you have to work hard. You have to put the work in to get it figured out.”

Disrupting Herbert’s comfort zone after his historic rookie season was likely worth the risk for the Chargers because of his proven study habits and his new teachers.

The well-prepared Herbert is now working with Chargers coach Brandon Staley, a defensive mastermind with a knack for being ahead of trends, and offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi, who has extensive knowledge of the New Orleans Saints’ offensive system, one of the most successful schemes in the league over the past 15 years.

Lombardi, Staley, quarterbacks coach Shane Day and offensive line coach Frank Smith spent the offseason program and training camp building off the Saints’ scheme as a foundation and tweaking it to fit Herbert’s strengths.

Lombardi spent 12 of the past 14 seasons as a Saints assistant coach. He was the quarterbacks coach for 10 of those years and got to coach Drew Brees, Teddy Bridgewater, Taysom Hill, Jameis Winston and Chase Daniel, who is now a backup quarterback with the Chargers.

“It’s a very sophisticated offense, but the foundation is the same,” Daniel said about comparing the Chargers’ and Saints’ schemes. “We’re going to do stuff that Justin might do better than Drew Brees and vice versa. What Joe does is fit the offense to the quarterback. He got spoiled for so long being with Drew for 12 years. But this No. 10 of ours is special. He can throw just about every ball on the football field.”

The complex scheme and rotating personnel groupings at a rapid pace might be the toughest system Herbert has ever been asked to grasp, but he’s embraced the challenge.

“It’s never easy and I wouldn’t really want it any other way,” Herbert said. “It’s obviously a tough scheme that we have to learn, but all of the guys here, they put in a lot of effort. I think it’s been going pretty well so far.”

‘Everybody gets love’

Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen was in the process of explaining what makes this offensive system different from others when he realized Nabers was being featured in this offense.

“We got different personnel groupings,” Allen explained. “Gabe’s getting catches out there. … Obviously, that’s Herb’s guy. He’s getting catches on hitch routes. That’s a fullback, by the way.”

Allen doesn’t want to lose targets to a fullback, but he understands the more other players contribute, the better it’s going to be for him and Herbert in the long run.

“Everybody gets love in the offense and that’s good because, obviously, I get doubled a lot,” said Allen, a four-time Pro Bowl receiver. “Mike (Williams) gets doubled